Bansi Flour

Bansi, is a Durum wheat variety like Kalibal, and was selected from domesticated hulled Emmer wheat. About 10 varieties of Durum wheat were documented in India in the first decade of the 20th century. They were extensively cultivated for rotis, flavour, nutrition and and yield as compared to white and soft bread wheat varieties.

Modern Durum wheat varieties lack the advantages of heirloom Durum wheat varieties since they have been bred to improve their baking properties; one of the most important being that gluten in modern varieties is more easily accessible than the older varieties. 

Older Durum wheat varieties like Bansi are weak or less elastic due to poor gluten network, making them excellent for pasta and semolina.

Heirloom Bansi is rich in proteins and gluten. However, due to its hard endosperm, gluten is not easily accessible from this heirloom variety.

OOO Farms provides the heirloom Bansi wheat variety.

Heirloom
Durum Wheat
Contains Less Complex Protein Structure
Easier to Digest
Rich in Protein
Rich in Gluten
Hard Endosperm

ROTI
PASTA

English: BANSI
Hindi: बंसी
Marathi: बंसी
Gujarati: બંસી
Tamil: பன்சி
Telugu: మొక్కజొన్న
Malayalam: ബൻസി
Kannada: ಬನ್ಸಿ
Punjabi: ਬੰਸੀ
Bengali: বনসি

Bansi, like other Durum wheat varieties like Kalibal, was selected from domesticated hulled Emmer
wheat (one variety of which is Khapli). This was done 7500 to 6200 YBP in Eastern Mediterranean region. About 2500 YBP, Durum wheat varieties largely replaced Emmer wheat varieties.

About 10 varieties of Durum wheat were documented in India in the first decade of the 20th century. They were extensively cultivated for rotis, flavour, nutrition and and yield as compared to white and soft bread wheat varieties.

The hard Durum wheat varieties were not preferred by the British mills to whom the soft wheat
varieties were sent. Eventually, soft bread wheat varieties almost displaced Durum wheat varieties except for some exports to southern Mediterranean for macaroni.